Sunday, September 07, 2014

ResearchED conference: blast of fresh air

I’ve attended and spoken at literally hundreds of
conferences around the world, but yesterday, on a Saturday morning, I talked to
a grass-roots audience of teachers, in an east-end London school, had a school
dinner for lunch (apple crumble and custard) and had an insightful time.

Run on a shoestring, by the affable Tom Bennett, it was
packed with young teachers, eager to learn and eager to do better for the kids
they teach. It wasn’t the usual quango-driven affair, but a genuine attempt to
encourage new thinking and debate in the minds of the people that matter.I liked the fact that I didn’t get a hideous
black canvas bag, that marked me out on the tube as a twat. I liked the fact
that the introductory speech was by a dedicated headmaster, talking about the
very school we were in. I like the fact that Tom was walking the floor, shaking
hands and finding time to speak to everyone. I liked the fact that it was all a
bit messy and crazy. I liked the fact that Gove wasn’t there as planned
(sacked) and that his replacement was too scared to attend after her first
tussle (wings clipped on setting).

For those who attended my session on ‘The Good, the Bad and
the downright Ugly: 2500 years of learning theory” thanks. For those who didn’t
attend, thanks also, because I spoke to tons of you around the place. If you
want to find out more on learning theory (30 mins for 2500 years was a tough
call) then look here.

What did I learn? These are a bit random but that’s what I
liked about the day…

1.INSET days are a bad way to deliver CPD

2.Alternative: more ResearchED days

3.Alternative: more online sharing (Twitter feed
was fab)

4.Forget quangos, let’s talk

5.Young teachers are mustard keen to learn

6.Then again, don’t get too precious about ‘teaching’

7.Shadow Minister for Education is anodyne

This is the sort of event that moves things on. Most of the
people attended in their own time, not on the ‘payroll’. I assume that most of
the speakers, if not all, did it for free.